Cydia

The Cydia store is endless, relentless, and mind-numbing. What could you possibly install next?

Some of you are first-time iPhone jailbreakers. Some of you bought the iPhone 4S when it was released and haven't had a jailbreak since you got rid of your older iDevice. If you have become rusty over the time you've waited for a jailbreak or you are new the to scene, then this synopsis should help you discover some interesting new and classic jailbreak applications or tweaks that you could install on your iPhone 4S to improve upon its already endless functionality. Anyone with a jailbreak on any other iDevice can use this synopsis for recommendations as well, but I am writing it to help people with the newer iPhone 4S learn what they have missed and possibly catch up with us. Here is a list of some of my personal favorite paid jailbreak applications and tweaks:

1. IntelliScreenX - ($9.99)

IntelliScreenX is a rather new jailbreak application designed by Intelliborn released solely for iOS 5. It allows you to have your Notification Center present on your lock screen, but it also adds a top shelf with common iOS toggles, device information, and a brightness slider. It also has a built in Twitter/Facebook timelime and a built-in email reader. It makes notifications fun and it makes the lock screen intuitive. It comes with a free copy of Messages+ which lets you compose and read text messages and iMessages more efficiently. You can read our introduction to IntelliScreenX from this link.

2. Springtomize 2 - ($2.99)

Springtomize 2 is the follow-up of Springtomize that is iOS 5-compatible by iOS developer Filippo Bigarella. It comes with countless settings for iOS and ultimately allows you to customize SpringBoard (as the name springtomize implies). There are well over one hundred settings and the customizations stretch around every feature of SpringBoard from the dock, to the App Switcher, to Notification Center, to your icons, to every other area. I like it because you can put your own personal touch into your iPhone that no one else will have if they aren't jailbroken. It was recently updated to support 16 new languages. You can read our introduction to Springtomize 2 from this link.

3. PhotoAlbums+ - ($4.99)
PhotoAlbums+ is a classic jailbreak application by iOS developer Christian Heusinger of the SpiritOfLogic team. It lets you manage your Camera Roll albums from the iPhone itself without needing to connect to a computer to add or delete albums. You can move photos from one album to another using PhotoAlbums+ and delete albums all without ever using a computer. I like to think of PhotoAlbums+ as part of the iOS 5 PC-Free system, which Apple introduced, that never came with iOS. It's very useful because you can manage and organize your photographs much better with the tweak than you could without it. It's one of the most valuable applications on my device. You can read our introduction to PhotoAlbums+ from this link.

4. iFile - ($4.00)
SSH is easily one of the most useful things for any power-user of a jailbroken iPhone. iFile is a classic jailbreak application by iOS developer Carsten Heinelt that lets you manage your iOS filesystem right from iOS itself without ever needing to configure an SSH connection. It includes Dropbox integration so that you can move the files you need on your computer right to the iPhone through Dropbox. I use iFile at least once a day for simple stuff such as '.plist' modding and installing '.deb' files when testing jailbreak tweaks. It's easily a hall-of-fame-r for the jailbreak community and one of the most beloved applications of all time. You can read our introduction to iFile from this link.

5. DisplayRecorder - ($4.99)
DisplayRecorder is a classic jailbreak application by iOS developer Ryan Petrich which allows you to record your screen in real time and then save it to your Camera Roll or upload it to YouTube. It's great if you want to show a friend how to do something because you can iMessage the result to them or if you're a tweak reviewer, it's a great tool for showing off what a tweak is capable of. If you want to record yourself playing a video game like people often do on their computers, then this is another helpful use for DisplayRecorder. DisplayRecorder comes with numerous settings to help you get either the best quality or the best performance possible while using it. You can read our introduction to DisplayRecorder from this link.

6. ProTube - ($1.49)
ProTube is a rather new YouTube client for iOS that I find to be flawless by iOS developer Jonas Gessner. It allows you to do many things in YouTube on your iPhone that the stock iOS YouTube application doesn't let you do. For one, you can download videos in HD or SD right to your camera roll. It includes other useful features such as ad blockers, social networking, video streaming (which lets you view videos that are normally blocked from mobile devices), and much more. The interface is much like that of the Mobile YouTube Web site which you can add by bookmarking the page on your home screen - this means that you already know how to use the interface and all you need to learn are all of the cool features that no other YouTube client can bring you on iOS 5. Jonas also released a version for iPad that iPad 2 owners will be happy to try. You can read our introduction to ProTube from this link.

7. Motion - ($1.00)
Motion is a fun new jailbreak tweak by iOS developers J. Corbett and Joel Einbinder. It's an amazingly simple tweak that does some amazingly fun things. It lets you customize the way that your application icons behave on your home screen. You can make them rotate, jump, become transparent, wave, grow, and much more. It works great for two things: if you want to add a touch of customization to your device, this is a great way to to do that. Another thing is, if you let your iPhone sit on its home screen for a while, this constant motion will help act as a screensaver so that you don't ruin the screen of your iPhone for letting it sit in one place for too long. It's a great tweak to rub in the face of your friend who isn't jailbroken. You can read our introduction to Motion from this link.

8. TetherMe - ($4.99)
TetherMe is a classic jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Sam Bingner that unlocks the native iOS hotspot function so that you can tether to your cellular data whenever you want to whether you pay for it or not. It does come with the prerequisite that you could get caught and penalized by the cell phone carrier, but that's a risk that many people take just to get the tethering function. It's a useful feature because if you want internet somewhere that you can't get Wi-Fi for your laptop or other Wi-Fi device, then TetherMe will let you use your iPhone's data to use your laptop or other Wi-Fi device. You can read our introduction to TetherMe from this link.

9. CallBar - ($3.99)
CallBar is a jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Elias Limneos that lets you answer and decline calls more conveniently. When you get an incoming call, instead of filling the whole screen with phone nonsense, an iOS 5-like banner will appear with the ability to dismiss or answer the call. This is especially handy when you're playing a game or doing something else on your phone and you don't want to deal with the phone application filling your screen. CallBar works with Skype and Viber too and there are many settings that come with it. You can read our introduction to CallBar from this link.

10. Messages+ - ($7.99)
Messages+ is a rather new jailbreak application by Intelliborn that extends the usefulness of Apple's Messages application. It comes for free with IntelliScreenX, but you can also purchase it separately. It allows you to quick compose and quick reply to any text message or iMessage with Activator integration and as a bonus it integrates with Apple's messages application instead of making you use a whole new application like biteSMS. It also allows you to manually dismiss text message banners instead of the way that they automatically disappear in iOS 5. It's by far one of my favorite text message extensions because it's lightweight and useful. You can read our introduction to Messages+ from this link.

Do you have any favorite jailbreak tweaks that you'd like to tell us about? Leave a comment below telling us what it does and why you like it. The list above only included paid jailbreak tweaks and applications, not free ones.

Umm why would Anyone on ios5 need photoalbum+ you can create and move photos on stock ios5 so I'm pretty sure that one should be taken off the list. Your basically asking people to pay for an app that is now useless

Umm why would Anyone on ios5 need photoalbum+ you can create and move photos on stock ios5 so I'm pretty sure that one should be taken off the list. Your basically asking people to pay for an app that is now useless

Because PhotoAlbums+ does more than iOS 5 lets you do. Read the introduction that I linked. iOS 5 STILL CAN'T do what PhotoAlbums+ can do.

I'm on a Verizon 4s on 5.0.1 and I was playing with SBSettings after jailbreaking and now I lost service! Please help. The phone worked fine all day but tonight when I got home I was messing with SBSettings and it resprung and lost service. Please help.

Honestly, do these Apps really drain battery life? I always thought all these apps and mods would hinder battery life

Nope. I have each and every one of these installed and over a length of 12 hours shelved (when I sleep) I only lose 4% of battery life. They don't make things run in the background that are significant enough to drain battery.